Inscribed l..r.: Madeley Manor Sep. 7. `42
Black chalk and pencil
25.7 by 36.2 cm., 10 by 14 ¼ in.
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 12th January 1966, lot 2, one of a folio;
Private Collection until 2014
Callow recalls in his autobiography:
`During the next year, 1842, my pupils increased in number… Miss Crewe, a sister of Lord Crewe, was also a pupil, and I went to give her some lessons at Madeley Manor, in Staffordshire, the seat of Mrs. Cunliffe Offley, the aunt of Miss Crewe, with whom she was staying. I unfortunately caught a severe cold on the last day of my visit through sitting on the damp grass, so I decided to go to the South Coast to recuperate’ (William Callow – an Autobiography, edited by H.M. Cundall, 1908, pp.87-88).
A view of Madeley by Callow was sold at Sotheby’s on 19th November 1992, lot 110 and another was with Leger Galleries in 1987.
Signed lower left: W. Callow
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
22.5 by 31 cm., 9 by 12 ¼ in.
Provenance:
With the Fine Art Society, London, November 1957;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, 12th June
2003, lot 157, where bought by the father of the present owner
Inscribed lower right: Aix Juil 29
Watercolour over pencil heightened with white on blue-grey paper
13.5 by 23.3cm., 5 1/4 by 9 inches
In 1831, Callow shared a studio with Thomas Shotter Boys in
?I was to leave by coach at six for Aix, but fell asleep
again, and did not wake until a few minutes before that hour. Hurried into my
clothes, but found the coach had already started, so got a man to carry my
knapsack and ran after it, catching it up about a mile out of the town as it
was ascending a hill; arrived at Aix at 9 A.M. Intended to make some sketches,
but was unable on account of the heat. I had decided to take the coach to
This drawing dates, therefore, from his few hours in Aix. Callow draws the city from the north with the tower of the Cathedral of St Sauveur in the foreground
Provenance:
Sir Adrian Holman, K.B.E. (1895-1974);
By descent until 2009
Signed lower right and inscribed lower centre
in pencil: East Lyn Valley/… Aug.t 27th -
1847
Watercolour over pencil heightened with
scratching out
25 by 37.1 cm.,
9 ¾ by 14 ½ in.
Lynmouth and
Lynton are adjoining villages in north Devon straddling a gorge where the East
and West Lynn rivers meet. This
on-the-spot sketch dates from Callow’s visit to Somerset and North Devon in the
late summer of 1847. His exhibits at the Old Watercolour Society in 1848
include a view of a watermill on the West Lynn river and views of Lynmouth and
Ilfracombe. For a view of Dunster Castle recorded in the collection of Mrs
Nelson, see H.M. Cundall (ed.), William
Callow – an Autobiography, 1908, ill. facing p.144).
Signed lower left: W.Callow
Watercolour with touches of pencil and scratching out
22.1 by 31 cm., 8 ? by 12 ? in.
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby's, 11th July 1990,
lot 23, where bought by the present owner
This watercolour dates stylistically from the early 1840s and is likely
to be a view of a French harbour. Callow moved to Paris in 1831 where he shared
a studio with Thomas Shotter Boys. He became a successful drawing
master in Paris and travelled widely on the Continent before returning to
London in 1841 when he was elected a member of the Old Watercolour Society.
Watercolour over pencil heightened with
touches of bodycolour
25.7 by 37 cm.,
10 by 14 ½ in.
Callow visited
Rouen on a number of occasions. He passed through the town on his way to Paris
in 1829 and it was the starting point of his first walking tour, along the
banks of the Seine, in May 1835. He returned with his friend and fellow artist
Charles Bentley in the autumn of 1836. He also visited the town on his tour of
Normandy in 1854. This studio work dates from 1863.
signed with initials lower right
watercolour over pencil
14.7 x 20.6cm., 5 ? x 8 ? inches
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Christie?s, 14th July 1987, lot 219
Private Collection,
Signed with initials lower left and
inscribed lower right: Marseille Juil 28
Watercolour over pencil heightened
with touches of bodycolour on grey-blue paper
13.4 by 23.2 cm., 5 ¼ by 9 in.
Provenance:
With the Fine Art Society, London,
1972
This dates from Callow’s tour of the
south of France in the summer of 1836. His diary entry for 28th July
is as follows: `My twenty-fourth birthday. On arrival at Marseilles went to bed
till 8 A.M. Visited the quays and made a number of sketches of merchantmen
coming into harbour’ (see William Callow
– an Autobiography, 1908, p. 55).
Two other watercolours of Marseille,
also dated 28th July 1836, were sold at Sotheby’s on 24th
November 2005, lots 159 and 160 and a large watercolour `Entrance to the Port
of Marseilles’, which was exhibited at the Society of Painters in Water-colours
in 1838, sold at Christie’s on 2nd December 2014, lot 194 for
£23,000 hammer price.
Signed lower centre: Wm Callow
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
28.8 by 45.6
cm., 11 ½ by 18 in.
Provenance:
With Vicar Brothers, 12 Old Bond St.,
London, 1947
This studio work may be based on
sketches drawn in the summer of 1835. Callow left Paris in May 1835 and walked
from Rouen along the Seine to Le Havre before taking the steamer to
Southampton. `After touring on foot round the Isle of Wight we went to
Portsmouth, and walked to Winchester, making a large number of sketches on the
way, and finally took the coach to London. This tour proved to be a very
pleasant one, and in this manner I was enabled to make sketches of many
interesting places unfrequented by travellers’ (see
William Callow – an Autobiography,
1908, p. 29).
This is a view of Winchester from
the banks of the river Itchen to the north of the city. Winchester Cathedral is
in the centre with Winchester Palace on the hill to the right. The Palace was
later converted into military barracks. Callow only exhibited three Winchester
views – stylistically this is likely to be the picture exhibited at the Society
of Painters in Water-colours in 1856 as `Winchester.’
Signed and dated 1863 lower left and inscribed
verso: No 8/Falls of the Rhine/at
Schaffhausen
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
and stopping out
56.6 by 84.6 cm., 22 ½ by 33 ½ in.
Exhibited:
London, Society of Painters in Water-colours, Summer 1863
The Falls at Schaffhausen are the
largest waterfall in Europe, located in northern Switzerland near the town of
the same name. They are 75 feet high and 450 feet wide. Callow visited them at
least once in the autumn of 1838 on his first tour of Switzerland. From Zurich
he took a steamer to Rappenschwyl then went by coach to Lake Wallenstadt. From
Ragatz he took a coach to Rorschak on Lake Constance then a steamer to the town
of Constance. `On the following day posted to Schaffhausen and saw the Falls of
the Rhine. Then quitted with great regret the mountain scenery of Switzerland
and posted to Freiburg, where I took the coach to Strasbourg’ (see William Callow –
an Autobiography, 1908, p. 69-70). John Murray’s popular guidebook to the
Alps described the falls as follows: `[From a balcony over the fall], covered
with the spray, the traveller may enjoy the full grandeur of this hell of waters; and it only by this close proximity, amidst the
tremendous roar and the uninterrupted rush of the river…. that a true notion
can be formed of the stupendous nature of the cataract’ (John Murray, Hand-Book for Travellers in Switzerland and
the Alps of Savoy of Piedmont, 1846, p.21).
The Falls were a favourite subject
for J.M.W. Turner who visited them in 1802, 1836 and 1841. Callow was
acquainted with Turner and here has chosen the same viewpoint as in Turner’s
1833 engraving for `The Keepsake’.
Signed lower right: William
Callow/1866 and again verso: No.3/Venice
from near the St Giorgios & grand Canal/by/William Callow R.W.S./The
Firs/G.t Missenden
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
29.4 by 76.5 cm., 11 ½ by 30 in.
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Christie’s, 16th March 1982, lot 142;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 14th April 1994, lot 521;
Private Collection, UK
Exhibited:
London, Society of Painters in Water-Colours, 1866, no.4
Callow first
visited Venice in 1840 when his visit coincided with Turner and they were
staying in the same hotel. Callow wrote in his diary:
`The next
time I met Turner was at Venice, at the Hotel Europa, where we sat opposite at
meals and entered into conversation. One evening whilst I was enjoying a cigar
in a gondola I saw Turner in another one sketching San Giorgio, brilliantly lit
up by the setting sun. I felt quite ashamed of myself idling away my time
whilst he was hard at work so late’ (William
Callow – an Autobiography, edited by H.M. Cundall, 1908, pp.66-67). Venice
was Callow’s favourite city and his Venetian views are his most sought after
pictures.
Inscribed with title verso
Watercolour over pencil
23 by 34.5 cm., 9 by 13 ½
in.
Provenance:
Manning Gallery, London
Dunster Castle sits above
the village of the same name on the north Somerset coast near Minehead.
Originally an eleventh century Norman castle, it has been extensively rebuilt
and remodelled over the years and is now a National Trust property. For another
view of Dunster Castle, dated 1847, see William
Callow - An Autobiography, edited by H.M. Cundall, 1908, ill. opp. p.144.
Signed lower left
Watercolour over pencil heightened with scratching
out, stopping out and gum arabic
227 x 303 mm., 9 x 12 in.
signed lower centre: W. Callow
watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour and gum arabic
30.8 by 42cm., 12 by 16 ? inches
Provenance:
With the Fine Art Society,
This is likely to date from shortly after Callow?s first tour of
This watercolour is almost certainly a studio work based on on-the-spot sketches. Two such views of Martigny, both dated 22nd August, are recorded ? one in the
Signed lower left: Wm Callow 1856
Watercolour over pencil heightened with
bodycolour
32.7 by 47.6 cm., 12 ? by 18 ? inches
Provenance:
With Walker?s Galleries, London, 1936;
With the Fine Art Society, London, 1970;
Anonymous sale, Christie?s, 21st March
1989, lot 117;
With Spinks, London, where bought by the
present owner, circa 1990
Exhibited:
London, Society of Painters in Water-colours, 1856
This is a view looking south at the
Rialto bridge from near the Palazzo Civran. To the right of the bridge is the
Palazzo Camerlenghi with the tower of the church of San Giacomo di Rialto
beyond. Callow first visited Venice in
1840 when his visit coincided with Turner and they were staying in the same
hotel. He returned on his honeymoon in 1846. The present watercolour will be a
studio work based on on-the-spot sketches.
Inscribed
l.r.: Dinant/Augt 30\1867
Pencil
on buff paper
274
x 380 mm., 10 ¾ x 15 in.
Provenance:
Anonymous
sale, Sotheby’s, 12th January 1966, lot 2:
Private
Collection until 2014
Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour
22 x 32 cm., 8 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches
Provenance:
Anonymous sale, Sotheby?s, 17th November 1988, lot 125, sold for ?1,900
Signed centre left: Wm Callow and inscribed verso: No 7/Water Mill/On the Seine
Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour
18.9 by 35.5 cm., 7 ½ by 14 inches
Provenance:
By descent in the family of the artist until at least 1927;
Anonymous sale, Sotheby’s, 11th July 1991, lot 186;
Private Collection, London until 2013
Literature:
Frank L. Emmanuel, William Callow, Walker’s Quarterly, 1927, p.43
Callow drew various views of a watermill at St Ouen including one dated July 1831 (Rhode Island School of Design, see Jan Reynolds, William Callow, 1980, pl. 7). Stylistically the present work dates from the late 1830s.
signed lower right and inscribed verso: No 6/Campsie Glen
watercolour over pencil heightened with gum arabic
35.8 by 27.2cm., 14 by 10 3/4 inches
Exhibited:
Campsie Glen is near Lennoxtown in
Signed with initials
lower left and inscribed: Reinhardsbrunn/Entrance
Gate./August 27th/1863
Watercolour over
pencil
355 x 253 mm., 14 x 9 ¾ in.
This is one of
a series of watercolours by Callow of royal palaces drawn in the summer of
1863. Prince Albert had recently died and Callow records in his autobiography: ‘.....I thought
that some drawings of Coburg, Rheinhardsbrunn and other royal palaces with
which he had been connected would be of interest to the public, so I wrote to
the Duchess Augustus of Saxe-Coburg, formerly my pupil, Princess Clementine,
asking her to obtain permission for me to sketch at these palaces, which she
readily obtained. In August 1863 we arrived at Coburg.... (at the Palace) I was
welcomed by the Duke and Duchess and their daughters, to whom I showed my
sketches. The Duchess requested me to leave them with her, as she was going to
Rosenau to see Queen Victoria...' Callow was
summoned to see the Queen at the Chateau, where he was ‘duly presented, but Her
Majesty graciously said, ‘I remember Mr Callow perfectly.' After looking
through my sketches, and expressing her admiration for them, the Queen told me
of a number of places of interest which I ought to visit and sketch.' (H.M.
Cundall, William Callow - An
Autobiography, 1908, p.121). The Queen commissioned eight watercolours from Callow, including a view
of Coburg, for which he was paid £105 on 22nd January 1864.
Signed lower left: Wm/Callow/1874
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour and stopping out
33.8 by 48.6 cm., 13 ? by 19 inches
Provenance:
London Society of Painters in Water-colours, Summer 1874
Drawn from the southern banks of the River Moselle, this view looks towards the Ehrenbreitstein fortress situated over 350 feet above the Rhine River. The Fortress, one of the largest in Europe at the time, was built by the Prussian Army between 1817 and 1832, after the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, as part of the defence of Koblenz.
The twin towers of the Church of St Castor in Klobenz can be seen on the north bank, situated at the confluence of the two rivers.
watercolour over pencil
16.3 by 25.2cm, 6 1/4 by 9 3/4 inches
This originates from an album which included a similar Callow watercolour dated 1842. The landscape and the style of the architecture suggests this shows a town on the Italian Riviera.
watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
33 by 48.6cm, 13 by 19 inches
The Neustadt is the main street in
Callow visited
Provenance:
A.R. Baines, C.B.E., Bramhope,
By descent until 2008
Exhibited:
Signed lower right: W Callow 1836
Watercolour heightened with bodycolour, scratching
out and stopping out
17.7 by 25.2 cm., 7 by 10 in.
The present watercolour dates from 1836 and was presumably drawn in Paris from earlier sketches. He records visiting Windsor as early as 1829: `In 1829 my father was superintending some repairs at Windsor Castle for King George IV., which gave me an opportunity of seeing all over it. I was delighted with everything I saw, and made a few small sketches there’ (William Callow - an Autobiography, 1908, p.6). Eton is just over the Thames from Windsor so he could easily have a preliminary sketch then.
Signed lower right: Wm Callow 1894
Watercolour over pencil heightened with bodycolour
33.9 by 24.7 cm., 13 ¼ by 9 ½ in.
This may be the work exhibited at the Society of
Painters in Water-colours in the winter of 1894 as `Near the Village of Halton,
Bucks.'
Signed with initials lower right: WC/Angouleme Juin 28. ‘36 Watercolour over pencil heightened with touches of bodycolour on blue-grey paper 22.7 by 26.5 cm., 8 ¾ by 10 ½ in.
Provenance: Anonymous sale, Christie’s, 1st March 1977, lot 163
This dates from Callow’s first sketching tour to Southern France in the summer of 1836. Callow set off from Paris on 6th June with a German friend called Soherr and travelled along the Loire and then to the South. They arrived in Angouleme on the evening of 26th June exhausted after a long walk in the hot sun. They slept most of the day of the 27th but Callow records in his diary: `In the evening we went on the ramparts, which surround the town; saw a lovely sunset and the full moon rise. In the interesting old town are some towers remaining of an old castle, and the ancient cathedral has some curious sculptures on the exterior’ (see William Callow – an Autobiography, 1908, pp.42). This sketch dates from the morning of the 28th June before they set off for Barbezieux. Callow writes: `The weather piping hot…. Made some sketches in the broiling sun’ (op.cit., p. 43).
A smaller fully finished studio work of the same view by Callow, dated 1836, was sold at Christie’s on 5th June 2007, lot 130 for £10,200. |
Inscribed upper right: Didlington High Oaks 1882/Aug 16
Watercolour over pencil
25.4 by 17.8 cm., 10 by 7 in.
Provenance:
With Thos. Agnew & Sons, London, circa 1940s
Didlington Hall was in the possession of the Wilson family until 1846. Charles Loftus in his memoirs `My Life from 1815-1849’ records visiting Colonel Wilson at Didlington Hall where there was a heronry in the `high oaks at the back of the Hall’ ((see William Callow – an Autobiography, 1908, p.140). By the time of Callow’s visit in 1882, the house was in the possession of William Amherst Tyssen-Amherst (1835-1909), the well known collector and bibliophile. He was created Baron Amherst in 1892 and is best known for his Egyptian collections and patronage of a young Howard Carter. Didlington Hall was requisitioned for the use of the Army during World War II which left it beyond repair and it was pulled down in the early 1950s.
An undated view of `Didlington Castle’ by Callow was exhibited at the Walker Galleries, London in April 1927.
Signed lower left: Wm Callow/1880
Watercolour over pencil heightened with
stopping out and gum arabic
22.1 by 45.1
cm., 8 ¾ by 17 ¾ in.
Signed lower right: Wm. Callow/1882
Watercolour heightened with touches of bodycolour and scratching out
34.7 by 50.3 cm., 13 ½ by 19 ¾ in.
Provenance:
With Thos. Agnew & Sons, Liverpool
Exhibited:
London, Society of Painters in Water-colours, Summer 1882
Callow was one of the best known topographical artists of the nineteenth century with a career spanning over seventy years. The son of a builder, he was employed as an eleven year old by the artist Theodore Fielding. In 1829 he went to work in Paris where he subsequently shared a studio with Thomas Shotter Boys and came under the influence of Bonington. He built up a successful teaching practice there in the early 1830s among the French nobility with his pupils including the Duc de Nemours and the tow children of King Louis Philippe.
In 1838 he was elected an Associate of the Old Watercolour Society which led to his return to England in 1841. In London he again became a very successful drawing master and began to exhibit widely. From the 1830s he travelled widely in Europe producing sketches which he would later use to produce, frequently large-scale, studio works which became greatly in demand. The present watercolour dates 1882 when he was seventy and still taking pupils. He exhibited at the Old Watercolour Society until his death in 1908 at the age of 96.
He first visited Italy and Florence in the autumn of 1840 and the present watercolour will date from sketches made on that visit. His diary records his progress from Milan to Venice and then on to the Padua, Ferrara and Bologna: `The next day we started in a vettura in company with two others for Florence, having been drawn by oxen at a snail’s pace across the Appennines. We slept at a solitary habitation, Albergo del Nolta, in sight of Monte di Fo, and after two days’ travelling at Florence. Here we remained for four days sketching all the wondering buildings. Forman being obliged to return to Paris, I proceeded by myself in a vettura to Rome’ (William Callow – an Autobiography, 1908, pp.77-78).
This is a view of Florence from the south-west taken from near the thirteenth century church of San Miniato al Monte. The bridge over the river Arno is the famous Ponte Vecchio with the largest of the visible towers being part of the Palazzo Vecchio on the Piazza della Signoria.